It might be confusing because the Met dress is behind the times for 1867. The new shapes started appearing in the magazines midway through 1864, and that dress, which is lovely, doesn't really show any of them. Your analysis is pretty good.
You're good to stick with a gathered bodice, I think; it's safe, at least. What really sets aside later 1860s from earlier (and I can tell one that's the New Look almost immediately):
* Gored skirt (either slight to extreme, depending on the year), elliptical shape, set in wide box pleats (3" inches or more), with an extra-wide pleat centered in the front. * Coat sleeves! Bishop sleeves were less typical, and open sleeves disappearing. Both were easy to cut down into coat sleeves to update an older gown; skirts could also be re-set. * Short little standing collar. Atypical before c. 1864; typical by 1866.
There are also typical trim lines (like a big square; none of that upward curve, and vertical bits closer in to the neck). Any back emphasis, particularly those sashes (which wouldn't work for a cotton print). Actually, be a bit more careful with trimming a cotton; it still tended to be a workaday material, and usually untrimmed or self-trimmed.
Note that sheers have their own rules in the 1850s-60s. They're the wild card. :)
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carisma_sensei
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Date: 2015-02-03 02:30 am (UTC)You're good to stick with a gathered bodice, I think; it's safe, at least. What really sets aside later 1860s from earlier (and I can tell one that's the New Look almost immediately):
* Gored skirt (either slight to extreme, depending on the year), elliptical shape, set in wide box pleats (3" inches or more), with an extra-wide pleat centered in the front.
* Coat sleeves! Bishop sleeves were less typical, and open sleeves disappearing. Both were easy to cut down into coat sleeves to update an older gown; skirts could also be re-set.
* Short little standing collar. Atypical before c. 1864; typical by 1866.
There are also typical trim lines (like a big square; none of that upward curve, and vertical bits closer in to the neck). Any back emphasis, particularly those sashes (which wouldn't work for a cotton print). Actually, be a bit more careful with trimming a cotton; it still tended to be a workaday material, and usually untrimmed or self-trimmed.
Note that sheers have their own rules in the 1850s-60s. They're the wild card. :)